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Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints

OVERVIEW

We are delighted to announce that the catalogue for our forthcoming sale of Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints at Sotheby’s London on 19th September 2012 is now available to view online. The sale will comprise a selection of nearly 200 masterful works which showcase 500 years of printmaking, embodying a variety of styles and techniques.

This sale will place a special emphasis on works which celebrate ‘Best of British’ prints. These exceptional works depict famous British motifs by leading British artists such as Francis Bacon, Richard Hamilton, David Hockney and the Grosvenor School. A remarkable group of ten etchings by Lucian Freud will spearhead this particular section of the sale.

Among the top works featured in the sale, three exceptional unique prints by Andy Warhol are included, which appropriate motifs from some of Edvard Munch’s most iconic works. The Scream, Eva Mudocci, and Madonna and Self-Portrait with Skeleton’s Arm (After Munch) come to auction from an Important European Collection. Alongside these three works we will also offer Andy Warhol’s Car Crash, a unique screenprint with a powerful and striking subject, estimated at £150,000 – 250,000.

 The Modern section includes the woodcut by Edvard Munch entitled The Girls on the Bridge, one of the artist’s most celebrated and popular compositions estimated at £180,000 – 200,000. Other highlights include Pablo Picasso’s Buste de Femme d’Apres Cranach Le Jeune, one of the artist’s most important and sought-after printed works. Marc Chagall features prominently in this section with Douze Maquettes de Vitraux pour Jerusalem, After Marc Chagall.

In the Old Master section, Albrecht Dürer is represented by a strong group, notably with Saint Jerome in his Study, Knight, Death and the Devil, Adam and Eve and Coat of Arms with a Skull, subjects that represent the pinnacle of the artist’s achievement in the medium.  We are delighted to offer works from the Collection of Dr. Michael Berolzheimer, comprising rare subjects by Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn such as The Sleeping Herdsman and Beggar Seated on a Bank and a pair of portraits printed on silk by Hendrik Goltzius. Also included in the sale are Francisco José de Goya’s Los Proverbios and Los Caprichos. Works by Martin Schongauer, Master MZ and Lucas Cranach the Elder are also featured in this sale.